The Jimi Hendrix Experience – Are You Experienced (1967)

“Mitch Mitchell was the excitement behind the guitar. The guitar and the drums were perfectly matched and mutually supportive. For me, that was the essence of a rock band, that interplay.

“Mitch had all kinds of chops that were light and sophisticated inside some extremely heavy music. That made a big impression on me, the idea that you didn’t have to be thunderous to make an impact.

“I used to go down to the Henritt’s Drum Store in London and daydream that Jimi and the boys would walk in as I was checking out a snare drum. They’d hear me playing and go, ‘Hey, kid – you’re good!’ [Laughs] Then we would go back to their place and jam and jam and jam; and Mitch and I would become best friends…

“Years later, I was talking to Henritt, who told me that producers used to come in all the time and say, ‘Hey, you got any kids in here who can play drums?’ So that actually used to happen – not to me, though.”